Safety guide for washing machines



1955 A. J. H. PACKHAM 2,768,016

SAFETY GUIDE FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed Aug. 24, 1953 %\\\\\\\\\,Ll/L\\\\\\\\\\fl: Fig.5 Fig.6

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United States Patent 7 SAFETY GUIDE FOR WASHING MACHINES Alfred J. H. Packham, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada Application August 24, 1953, Serial No. 376,181 7 Claims. (Cl. 294-235) This invention relates to a device for safely guiding articles of clothing and the like between the rollers of a washing machine wringer and has for its primary object the prevention of articles of clothing from wrapping around the rollers of a wringer and also to prevent the hand of the operator from being caught between the rollers thereof.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety device in conformity with the foregoing object which may incorporate a solid flat member or a specially shaped framework provided with or without distinct handles as desired, the device being adapted to be inserted between the rollers of a washing machine wringer to safely aid in the wringing of clothes.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a safety article in conformity with the foregoing object in which the base or framework may be covered with suitable resilient material and in which the member is provided with a strip of friction producing material extending longitudinally therearound for insuring proper frictional engagement between the article of clothing being wringed, the rollers of the wringer and the safety device.

At present most wringers are provided with a safety device known as a pressure release bar which is actuated by a hand operated lever or bar after the operators fingers are caught between the rollers of the wringer or after an article of clothing and the like have become wrapped around the roller.

Numerous accidents to the hands of operators have occurred when endeavoring to disentangle something which has become wrapped around the rollers as it is generally necessary to reverse and/or advance the direction of rotation of the rollers to expose one end of the article so that it may be grabbed by the thumb and finger tips. The rear edge of the metal apron of the Washing machine is so close to the parallel line where the rollers meet that the operators view of the bottom roller is partially obscured and the restricted space available to grasp the free end or piece of the article is such that the operator can only with difficulty use the tips of the fingers to obtain a hold thereon.

As is necessary to extract the wrapped article, the operator grips the article as firmly as possible and pulls on the small portion thereof which must be held very tightly. With the other hand, the operator then manipulates the gear lever to engage the driving mechanism of the wringer rollers. The fact that the wringers are operable on both sides often leads to confusion as to which direction the gear lever should be operated and if the lever is moved in the wrong direction the fingers tightly gripping the article are drawn between the rollers and another is added to the innumerable accidents caused by this procedure.

The primary object of this invention will therefore be manifest in entirely eliminating such risks and injuries as the use of the hereinafter described safety deice vice will positively prevent articles wrapping around the roller and at all times keep the hand of the operator at a safe distance from the rollers of the wringer when guiding articles therebetween.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view showing the manner of utilizing the safety device;

Figure 2 is a plan view of one form of the invention;

Figure 3 is another plan view in modified form of the invention;

Figure 4 is an end elevational view of the assembly shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a longitudinal section taken through the assembly shown in Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a transverse section taken substantially along the plane of section line 6-6 in Figure 7 showing details of the device on an enlarged scale; and

Figure 7 is a plan view of a modified form of the invention.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 2, the reference numeral 10 indicates the main body portion of the safety device which may be of substantial width and which is provided with a notch 12 at one end thereof. The opposite end is provided with a longitudinally extending hand grip portion 14, which may be provided with suitable corrugations or ridges as shown and which terminate in the space leg portion 16 defining a notch 18 therebetween. A strip of material 20 in the form of a loop is passed longitudinally around the member and fastened at its free ends as by the staple or other suitable fastener 22 for frictional engagement with the surface of the safety device. The material 20 is formed of any suitable substance which retains a high coefficient of friction even when subjected to soapy water or the like.

Referring-now more particularly to Figure 1, it will be seen that one end of the article of clothing 24 is grasped by one hand of the operator with the other hand grasping the safety device indicated generally by the reference character 26.

Reference numerals 28 and 30 indicate the rollers of the washing machine which are turning in a direction to feed the clothing in the direction indicated by the arrow in this figure. The reference character 32 indicates the usual apron for directing the clothing between the wringers. In use, the article of clothing is poked between the wringers generally in the manner shown in Figure 1 and it will be manifest that as soon as the rollers have gripped the safety device, the same is released by the operator and allowed to pass through the rollers, thus not only preventing the article of clothing from wrapping about one or the other of the rollers but also enabling the operator to effectively manipulate the article of clothing between the rollers without maneuvering the hand so close to the rollers as to be unsafe.

Referring nof more particularly to Figures 3-5 wherein a modified form of the assembly is shown, reference numeral 34 indicates the main body portion or intermediate section of the device which may be of enlarged width as shown so as to present a hilt or hand retaining shoulder 36 in proximity to the longitudinally extending hand grip portion 38 extending at opposite ends thereof. Each of these hand grip portions are notched as indicated by the reference character 40 at their free ends and the strip of material 42 is received in these notches and passes longitudinally around the safety device in the 

